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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2004
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What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 06:56
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Hey guys,
I've been looking into doing my own spray job in the near future, and i'm wondering what size/power air compressor would be necessary? Obviously the bigger the better, but does anyone have any experience with what readily available options give the best result?
Cheers,
Mark.
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Location:
BRAY PARK BRISBANE
Registered:
March 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 06:58
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12 to 15 cfm should do the trick
use 2pac paint no harder than acrilic but ten times the finish
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 07:01
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Isn't it illegal to home spray 2pac?
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Location:
BRAY PARK BRISBANE
Registered:
March 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 07:02
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not if you dont tell anyone your doing it 
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Location:
brisvegas
Registered:
August 2004
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 07:04
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acrylic can come up just as good, you need to use a 2 pac iso clear over the top..but most of the metallics are acrylic based..a 2 pac clear will give you the same "shiny off the gun" finnish..
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Location:
BRAY PARK BRISBANE
Registered:
March 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 07:06
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2pac clear over acrilic is not a good idea as i the sun the heat and cool at different rates and the paint ends up with crows feet after a while
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I supported Toymods
Location:
melbourne.victoria.austra...
Registered:
June 2002
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2004
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 07:58
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great, thanks guys! Gotta look around for a decently priced air comp now!
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 10:57
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Iso Free paints are available, which reduce environmental and health problems.
PPG Cobra, is a clear over base system, which is effectively an acrylic, with a 2Pac clear.
2HP, 14CFM compressor is what you need, any lower, and the damn compressor will be running non stop!
cheers Chuck.
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Location:
Bundaberg, Qld.
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 11:29
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i sprayed the feral in acrylic (my favourite as it easy to use and fix up the bodgies) anyways came out great after a buff.
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14CFM compressor is what you need, any lower, and the damn compressor will be running non stop!
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yea, i used a 12cfm 50 liter tank compressor and i had it running 'nearly' non stop.
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Location:
1st street on the right
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Thu, 21 April 2005 12:32
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My new compressor.Ok so it's for work, but 18.5CFM @ 400bar/5880psi max pressure. Stores 120,000 litres/4310 cf of air.
You may now have compressor envy. 
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 08:35
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holy shit what are you planning on doing with that monster ? inflating the worlds largest baloon ?
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Location:
1st street on the right
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 09:45
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Mainly scuba cylinders. But we have a number of 70 litre cylinders/6000psi storage (28,000 ltr) thinking about regulating output to say 20psi and foregoing the turbo. Just refill at work.
OR just imaging what you could do with that much NOS.  
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 10:07
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I now officially have compressor envy..
I bought a 2.5hp one from uber cheap, its pretty wimpy, next time i'd get a bigger one.. it was ~$160ish the cheapo 2hp ones must suck pretty hard...
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 10:09
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ive only got a 2.5hp 40L unit just a cheapo unit and for home jobs ive never had problems. never had to do major spraying jobs with it though. but great for air tools etc.
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 10:19
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Same as mine.. i find it runs alot though..
the guy at bunnings was raving too me about how important it was to kinda 'run them in' eg, let them run against no pressure for a minute or two, then let the tank get right up to pressure, and sit for a while, then repeat..
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Location:
Hawthorn, Vic
Registered:
March 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 10:24
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uber cheap hav a 2hp unit for $89 atm.
recomend purchase?
spec are:
-2hp, 1500w direct drive (thank god )
-7.27 cfm (abit low)
-21L tank
would it be enough for home job spray, ie skirts, various metal bits, bumpers, car primer, etc.
or should i not be tight and get a 3hp or something?
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 10:50
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For that price, buy a pair and chain them together.
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Location:
Canberra
Registered:
October 2004
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 12:48
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too small to run a die grinder or anything.. tank is a bit small.. i'm thinking about getting an old gas tank to run as extra storage..
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 12:51
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Yeah, thats why you chain them together. Works grouse.
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Location:
1st street on the right
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 12:52
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Whatever you do don't forget to get a water trap for it.
Ask Ed
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Location:
Hawthorn, Vic
Registered:
March 2005
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 13:11
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Sure, it will work. It won't double the pressure, but it will double the flow rate, and the tank capacity. (Assuming you only connect two... no reason you couldn't use even more in parallel).
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Location:
Hawthorn, Vic
Registered:
March 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 13:39
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hahah
yeah, no reason to not by.. say.. 6
except for the looks you will get, the area it will take up, and the noise it would generate
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
July 2004
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 14:43
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I had a little uber cheap model,fairly useless.thing is,once you have a compressor you discover how useful they are and start to add on to your air tool collection etc.It takes very little time to realise that you need the best/biggest one that you can run on home power.[17cfm] still this size runs down real quick when using a die grinder etc.eg.you can buy a sand blaster for $20,but if I have sand blasting to do I run my 17 cfm and the neighbours 17 cfm through a t piece and its still necessary to have 2 things on the go so you have something to do while they fill up with air.You would get about three minutes blasting from the two and then wait.
I advise adopting the same recipe for all your tool requirements,buy what you need,dont lend them to unreliable people [all people that dont have their own tools fall into this category] and you will have them forever!
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Registered:
February 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 14:45
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3HP will do, it doesnt matter if you have 25litre tank or 50 since it will be running constantly anyway, but 3hp is powerful enough to keep the pressure up, so you dont have to stop letting the pressure build up again, but it will take a long time to paint a car with thoose small compressors, it makes it easier tho if ur not a pro, nothing is worse than having a big azz compressor and applying too much paint and watch is slide down the sides of the car...
using acryl base paint and 2pac clear coat is no problem, thats exactly what most of the pro car painting places do,and it has some advantages, it covers better with a thinner coat, and the paint is cheaper, it also makes it a lot easier to apply since you dont need a thick layer to cover up everything, wich again reduces the risk of having to watch the paint starts sliding down ur car when u think ur done...
On the other hand i did paint my ta22 for a few days ago, with 2pac all the way.. it took 3,5litre of basepaint and 2 litres of clearcoat, but the result was some of the best i ever seen,all the paint got pretty expensive, but with the final result im happy i went this way.
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 15:38
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BEWARE-ESSAY APPROACHING........
Yeah-as someone mentioned before in the thread (and I was also told many moons ago) that a 12-14 CFM (Cubic Foot per Minute) compressor was the go. A min flow ability of 12-14 CFM seems to be the accepted rate required to keep most air tools/spray guns running contiuously without needing the air compressor running 100% of the time. Once you have the comressor running 100% of the time it means that the comressor unit itself cannot supply enough air at the required pressure to run the tool/gun at the pressure for which it is designed.
Examples-
1. If you are running a die grinder almost constantly whilst doing a port job, or a spray gun for a re-spray, and the compressor unit is turning on only occasionally for just a short time, it means this:
The compressor you are using is of a good size and only has to run for a short time every few minutes to replenish the compressed air (potential energy) that you have used up to drive the tool/spray gun.
2. If you are running a die grinder almost constantly whilst doing a port job, or a spray gun for a re-spray, and the compressor unit is turning on shortly after you start and stays on the whole time you are using the tool-whilst the speed of the tool/paint delivery rate and spray pattern of the gun slowly decreases/degrades, it means this:
The air flowrate at the required (tool) pressure of the compressor you are using is too low.
However, The shaft speed , (ie. diegrinder-airdrill-airgrinder-rattlegun etc RPM), or the flowrate(paint gun, blovac, air bower etc), of the tool you are using will not drop to zero if the driving air compressor is running 100% of the time. (providing of course the compressor is capable of flowing a least a bit of air-ie a fish tank compressor is no good-derr  )
However, as the (small and shitty Chinese/Gook Machinery Company-GMC) compressor, when running flat-out (100% of the time), is only capable of delivering say 2/3 the volume of air at the required pressure, or say the required volume at only 2/3 pressure, needed by the tool, then if the tool is run 100% of the time, and the compressor is on 100% of the time, then the tool speed/flow will fall to probably only 2/3 of what it would have been running with a compressor either of required minimum or larger size.
Having said all this-of course there are realistic ways around having to buy a $$$ 12+ CFM compressor.
1. Buy two (90-110 bucks each) 6-6.5 CFM GMC ones and hook them up in parallell (pressure is the same-but flow is 2X) - that will give you 12-13 CFM for 1/4-1/5 the price of a Clisby and 1/10th the $$ for an Atlas Copco brand one, etc.
2. Learn to live with a smaller CFM compressor unit by-
2A Fitting a supplementary reservoir (old LPG tanks are good)
so that once it has filled the bigger reservoir it
takes longer for it to empty and trigger the comp again.
(you are also waiting longer for it to fill back up though)
2B Being careful with your spray nozzles when painting so that
when you are blowing on the coat, you are blowing on with a
pretty small paint orifice/nozzle. This means you are not
using big flow rates, but rather small rates at the normal
pressure so the small compressor can keep up. It does mean
that you take longer to spray a given area, but that you
get proper atomisation and a smooth finish. (albeit with
more coats)
Case in point for patience, common sense and being stingy-
I have a story on a 290HP L28 240Z Datsun in an old Street machine with an AWESOME midnight blue paintjob that was applied using a tiny Beaver spray gun............
It took him longer than with a big 14 CFM compressor, but as a pretty inexperienced painter, had he used a (high flowing) professional spray gun he would have ended up with runs galore.
Anyway dude-thats my essay on the subject (prettymuch everything I know the subject really).
In closing though, as for acryllic and 2-pak, my advice (generally taken from a few sprayer friends I have) is Acryllic all the way.
Reasons-
1. 2Pak has cyanide compounds (as mentioned before-isocyanates(sp?))VERY VERY BAD when airbourne, and looks the best the day it's done-awesome for show cars that are garaged all the time-but degrades over time.
2. Acryllic is easier to spray on, is not a 2-part system, requires a buff once done to shine it right up, but once you get the clearcoat (also accryllic will do there) and buff it up only a pro can really tell-and the more you polish the acryllic the shinier it gets-even 10 years later.
Sorry for the essay-but thats it from me-I know nothing else about paint!
Sean
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Location:
1st street on the right
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 23:38
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Water trap and regulator usually come as a paired unit. Regulator allows you to reduce you pressure to your tool thus avoiding excess pressure and paint flow at the gun. This stops runs.
Water trap captures water in the air. As air is compressed it heats up and moisture is forced out of the air. This is why you need to drain the tank (thats what the valve underneath is for) regularly. If running for painting on a warm day this could mean every 5 min conceivably.
On the compressor pictured above, there is an inlet water separator/filter, cooling coils between stages. There are 3 cylinders each pushing progressively higher pressures. These tubes allow the moisture to condense and drain away. Then the final separator where every 15mins the lines are blow out with 400bar through a cyclonic separator. Mounted on the left side (looking at the pic) there is a 20lt drum to collect this. We usually drain once a week of about 10lt. And thats operating it in a temp and humidity controlled room (18deg ambient 20% humidity)
Imagine whats going through your compressor cylinders. Not to mention whats coming out through the paint
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Location:
BRAY PARK BRISBANE
Registered:
March 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Fri, 22 April 2005 23:52
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| takai wrote on Fri, 22 April 2005 20:50 |
For that price, buy a pair and chain them together.
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that is what i did to paint my hilux click on my link to see how it came out. (2pac not buffed)
im extreamly happy
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Location:
MELBOURNE
Registered:
December 2004
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Sat, 23 April 2005 22:56
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Anyone tried any of the HVLP guns? Really interested in them but I've never tried one. And if you can afford 2pac and afford to be able to rub bugs out on such expensive paint go for it. Acrylic all the way though on old cars! It looks so tough lol!
Thanks
Troy
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Location:
Tassie
Registered:
October 2003
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Sun, 24 April 2005 07:40
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I used a supercheap $160 unit and it worked fine for just the bonnet/ roof plus the fade i wouldn;t use it for air tools or anything tho .
Also i had to buy a water trap as they aren't included.
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Location:
Capella
Registered:
April 2005
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Re: What power air compressor for home spray job?
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Tue, 26 April 2005 06:38
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you NEED an inline filter to do it
also make sure you drain the comps cylinder before you start
and take out any in line oilers
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